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De Almonds

These properties are extracted by alcohol, they depend on a volatile oil which rises with water in distillation. The oil obtained from the seed is colorless and of an agreeable odor. The seeds contain about 5 per cent of oil, which may also be extracted by maceration in alcohol 95 per cent. Use as directed in the recipes.

Oil of Cedar.

The species of juniper commonly called red cedar grows in all latitudes of the United States from Burlington in Vermont to the Gulf of Mexico, and is therefore too familiar to render any description of it necessary. Upon distillation, cedar wood yields an essential oil that is exceedingly fragrant. This oil in former times was very scarce, but recently it has been made from the refuse shavings of the pencil makers, and is now sent extensively into the market. One hundred pounds of shavings yields from 20 to 25 ounces of the oil. The tincture or essence of cedar smells agreeably of the wood, from which it can be made by steeping the cedar wood in alcohol 95 per cent. This oil is also used in combination with creosote for flavoring Irish and Scotch whiskey.

Sweet Almonds.

The almond tree is a native of Persia, Syria, and Bombay, but we are supplied with almonds chiefly from Spain and the South of France. They are distinguished into the soft-shelled, and hard-shelled, the former of which comes from Marseilles, and Bordeaux, and the latter from Malaga. The kernals of the almond when deprived of their skin are called blanched almonds; this is easily done after immersion in boiling water. Sweet almonds yield about 50 per cent of essential oil, which is obtained by compression from blanched almonds.